In what was catnip for conservatives bored by an otherwise slow news day on Thursday, June 1st, President Joe Biden had a nasty fall while speaking at the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony. A White House communications director claimed on Twitter that the fall occurred because Biden tripped on a sandbag. That was White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt, who said, “He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.”
After the fall, during which Biden fell onto his hands and right side and had to be helped up by a number of Secret Service agents and an Airman, Biden was able to walk off the stage under his own power.
The incident raised many eyebrows online with people, mainly conservatives, taking the opportunity presented by Biden’s fall to raise questions about what they characterized as Biden’s frail body and poor health. The president’s doctor, however, claims that he is generally “healthy” and “vigorous” for his age despite his advanced age and a few conditions of his that are being treated.
Regardless, the incident also appears to have raised eyebrows at the event itself, as an Air Force Airwoman on stage with the President at the time he fell saw what happened and decided to do an about-face and vacate the stage. Such is what conservative commentator Jack Posobiec noticed and pointed out on Twitter, saying, “THE PART WHERE SHE LOOKS AT WHAT HAS JUST TRANSPIRED AND DECIDES TO VACATE.”
Watch that aspect of the incident here:
THE PART WHERE SHE LOOKS AT WHAT HAS JUST TRANSPIRED AND DECIDES TO VACATE https://t.co/ZQkloWWqNy
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 1, 2023
Commenting on Posobiec’s post, one person drew attention to the media’s treatment of Trump when he gingerly walked down the ramp, saying, “Remember the crying about 25th amendment” and linking to a Washington Post story about the ramp incident.
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Another commenter posted a picture of a walker and said, “They need to commission Rollator One for him.”
In the 2023 letter about the president’s current health that the White House published, Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said, “President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those of as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”
Many of the comments about President Biden’s alleged poor health strike home because he is currently 80 years old, making him the oldest person to ever serve as an American president. Thus, health-based criticisms of him tend to strike home despite what the letter said.
One such person raising questions about Biden’s health is former White House physician (under Obama and Trump) and current GOP representative for Texas Ronny Jackson. He said, when the letter about Biden’s health was released, “The majority of Americans can see that Biden’s mental health is in total decline, yet there is no transparency from the White House on what’s going on, if anything, to address this issue and his inability to do his job.”
Jackson also said, “This is alarming, considering I have already sent three letters to the White House demanding that Biden receive a cognitive test and that the results be made public, all of which have been ignored. Everyone can see something is wrong — the cover-up needs to end.”
Featured image credit: screen grab from the embedded video